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All Dressed Up

I am always looking for ways to take the everyday and make it special. Sometimes I do this purely out of necessity (I’m a busy girl after all!) and sometimes it’s just because making a dish entirely from scratch isn’t dramatically better than tweaked up store-bought. I’ll make fancy from scratch frosting to go with boxed cake mix and homemade butter for store baked bread. Even something as simple as a pre-made fruit platter looks fancy when served in a pretty bowl with a few snips of fresh mint on top. I’m all for minimal effort, maximum impact.

As you know by now I love salad. I eat it nearly everyday, especially since I’ve begun harvesting it from my own garden, and I serve it anytime we have a sizable gathering. And what could be easier than a homemade dressing to fancy-up any otherwise ordinary tossed salad. Sure it’s easy to buy a bottle of dressing at the store (actually I usually serve something store-bought alongside my homemade for those “afraid of the unknown” guests) but homemade salad dressing is crazy easy to throw together and much tastier than pre-made.

In the past I’ve made a simple mustard vinaigrette and a garlicky pesto dressing, but having recently made hummus I really wanted to find another use of that container of tahini I had sitting in my refrigerator. Voilà… Lemon, Tahini & Garlic Dressing was born.

Lemon, Tahini & Garlic Salad DressingThis was delicious drizzled on salad but I imagine it would work as well on a hummus and falafel pita or even steamed greens. And feel free to decrease the garlic and up the honey if a sweeter, milder dressing is what you prefer.

Whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, water, vinegar and honey. Add to this the garlic, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Drizzle in the sesame oil and whisk everything together until it is thoroughly blended.

Adjust the salt and sweetness to your taste, adding a splash more water if you prefer a thinner dressing, and chill for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors meld. Allow it to come to room temperature before serving.

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2 thoughts on “All Dressed Up”

If you love the nutty flavor of sesame and a touch of garlic, this dressing is for you (and me)! This delicate dressing on fresh greens from the garden… what a great experience for your tastebuds! Each forkful begs for more. Yum!!

“This sounds good! I’ll have to try it. . . And I agree, Jan – homemade dressing is SOO easy to make, and usually so much better tasting than store bought (also healthier).

I have a simple dressing that I make when I start getting to the very last bit of brown mustard in the squeeze bottle (you know… when it gets to the point where it is nearly impossible to get out?). . . I simply add some olive oil, balsamic or cider vinegar, and a large clove of finely chopped garlic right into the mustard bottle (taking it back up to the top), then shake it up really good so that all the mustard that is stuck on the sides and bottom of the bottle get mixed in really well, and that’s it! It makes an easy and great tasting salad dressing. You can add other spices to it if you want, but the spicy brown mustard usually has enough of a kick to it to add enough flavor.”